News & Articles
Color’s November Newsletter, Spectrum – Color
Linda Jiang
Color’s monthly newsletter, Spectrum, helps you stay up to date on living a healthy life with the latest in health and wellness, genetics, and cancer and heart health. If you found this information interesting, sign up for our monthly Health Notes here.
Health & Wellness
Nearly Half of Americans Now Have High Blood Pressure, Based on New Guidelines
CNN, by Susan Scutti
Tens of millions more Americans now have high blood pressure. Almost half of all Americans — 46% — are now considered to be in the high blood pressure category based on new guidelines. High blood pressure should be treated at 130/80 rather than 140/90 …
It’s Official: Dog Owners Live Longer, Healthier Lives
Time, by Amanda MacMillan
In case you need another reason to snuggle your pup: According to a new study of more than 3.4 million people, owning a dog is linked to a longer life. The research, published in Scientific Reports, is the latest in a growing body of research suggesting that canine companions …
New York Times, by Tara Parker-Pope
Behavioral scientists have spent a lot of time studying what makes us happy (and what doesn’t). Everyone has the power to make small changes in our behavior, our surroundings and our relationships that can help set us on course for a happier life …
Genetics
Amish Mutation Protects Against Diabetes and May Extend Life
New York Times, by Anahad O’Connor
Amish people living in a rural part of Indiana have a rare genetic mutation that protects them from Type 2 diabetes and appears to significantly extend their life spans, according to a new study. The findings shed light on the processes underlying cellular aging …
Medical First: Doctors Attempt to Gene-Edit a Living Patient’s DNA
CNN, by Susan Scutti
A man may soon be forever free of the previously incurable disease he was born with 44 years ago. On Monday, in a medical first, Brian Madeux received an experimental in-body gene-editing treatment intended to cure him of Mucopolysaccharidoses II …
Neanderthal Genes Help Shape How Many Modern Humans Look
NPR, by Greta Jochem
Neanderthals died out some 30,000 years ago, but their genes live on within many of us. DNA from our shorter, stockier cousins may be influencing skin tone, ease of tanning, hair color and sleeping patterns of those of present-day Europeans …
Cancer & Heart Health
Why HPV Vaccination Rates Remain Low in Rural States
MIT Technology Review, by Emily Mullin
Mandi Price never thought she’d be diagnosed with cancer at age 24. She was a healthy college student finishing her senior year when, during a regular Pap smear, her gynecologist found abnormal cells in her cervix. It was stage II cervical cancer. Even more devastating was the fact that her cancer was preventable …
Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol
New York Times, by Roni Caryn Rabin
The American Society of Clinical Oncology, which represents many of the nation’s top cancer doctors, is calling attention to the ties between alcohol and cancer. The group cites evidence that even light drinking can slightly raise a woman’s risk of breast cancer …
Nearly Half of Cancer Cases Are Within Your Control, Researchers Say
Time, by Alice Park
Diseases as complicated as cancer are often caused by genetic factors that are out of your control and risk factors that you can change. Now, researchers have calculated just how much of that risk is within a person’s control …
